No Perfect Place

One of my favorite vacations this past year was visiting my sister in Sacramento. A highlight for the kids was going to the Pumpkin Patch near my sister’s home.

A part of me just loved the idea of life in the U.S. Everytime I am there, I am like, we should just live here. It’s a quiet kind of life in the area where my sister lives, and I like that so much.

Here, the traffic, the busyness, the activities, never seem to end. However, our spiritual family is here. This is home. Our ministry is here. Our roots are here. There are so many things about the Philippines that I also love. (Personally, I feel that Filipinos are some of the happiest and nicest people on earth.)

The truth is there is no perfect place in the world. When I was in the U.S. for our extended vacation, I had to do everything — cook, clean, laundry, take care of my baby, and attempt to homeschool. It wasn’t easy. I enjoyed the quiet but my days revolves around chores and attending to my baby.

When I traveled back to the Philippines, I had household help to cook, clean, and do laundry for me, but we jumped right back into meeting with people, doing ministry, work, and attending events. It was it’s own version of tiring.

What is missing in both places tells me that on earth we only have pieces and glimpses of the greater whole, of eternity. As Paul put it, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.”

(1 Corinthians 13:9-10)

Presently, every place will have something missing until we get to our heavenly home. And these longings we have for that “perfect somewhere,” are meant to turn our hearts toward what is eternal. The earth will never be enough. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we will focus on making the most of where we are, instead of envying what others have, and wrestling with discontent.

We were made for eternity, to be with our Heavenly Father. That’s when all of our desires will find their fullest satisfaction.

In the meantime, we must press on, and run the race God has respectively called us to…To make wherever he has planted us, a space, a home, a city, a nation that is claimed for Him, and his glory. Then one day He will say, “It’s time to come home,” and we will be like, “This is perfect!”

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